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Project humbucker angle


Pinch

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Okay. The pickups on my Tribute are set at an angle. So if I lower the pickup to where the pole pieces are at a reasonable distance from the strings, there's a gap in the pickup ring on one side. 

I'm getting rubber foam to rectify this. The problem is, I've never actually removed a pickup myself. In all these years. Will the whole thing including the height adjuster and its spring be contained in the pickup ring, so I can just unscrew it and lift the whole thing out, put some rubber foam under the offending side, and put it right back in? 

Help appreciated. 

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Oh! Generally speaking, do I need thick rubber foam? Is the actual pickup that want to raise on one side situated directly against the wood in the pickup cavity, in which case I would only need rubber foam a couple millimeters thick, or do I need like, I dunno, a half inch? 

I know, I could take it out and look, but I'm planning to do everything at once next string change. 

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1 hour ago, Pinch said:

Oh! Generally speaking, do I need thick rubber foam? Is the actual pickup that want to raise on one side situated directly against the wood in the pickup cavity, in which case I would only need rubber foam a couple millimeters thick, or do I need like, I dunno, a half inch? 

I know, I could take it out and look, but I'm planning to do everything at once next string change. 

Just get some stuff from the hardware store to take up the space for a crack like for a window or door. I've done it on guitars. SG's are notorious for having weird pup angles one of the pups. Been a while since I had one in my hand.

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When you take the pickup out, be careful of the long screws... Its easy to damage your top if you arent careful..  Get a cloth and lay it down so you can place the pickup on there once its out.. There will only be a certain amount of wire so it will only move so far...

Edited by Rabs
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2 hours ago, Pinch said:

Oh! Generally speaking, do I need thick rubber foam? Is the actual pickup that want to raise on one side situated directly against the wood in the pickup cavity, in which case I would only need rubber foam a couple millimeters thick, or do I need like, I dunno, a half inch? 

I know, I could take it out and look, but I'm planning to do everything at once next string change. 

 

I have no idea.  I've never been bothered by the pickup angle of any guitar.  I would imagine any kind of fun foam or something like that.  There isn't a whole crap load of room down there, so not much thickness I would think.

rct

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9 minutes ago, Pinch said:

Thanks guys. 

Yeah, it's like on an SG, only on a Les Paul. No idea what possessed them. 

 

The tabs that the screws pass through may be a bit bent, always easiest to just bent them back to where you want them.

rct

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12 minutes ago, rct said:

 

The tabs that the screws pass through may be a bit bent, always easiest to just bent them back to where you want them.

rct

There are tabs for the screws? Oh. OK. 

The pickup rings sit perfectly flush with... everything, though. It's just the actual pickup. 

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Yeah, little metal ears on the sides of the pickup that the height screws pass through.  They can get wonky and make it sit on an angle.  Not a dramatic thing, and can be very subtle there on the actual pickup but looks all crooked up top when it is in.  You'll see.  They may be nice and straight and happen to just want to sit on an angle.

rct

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10 hours ago, rct said:

Yeah, little metal ears on the sides of the pickup that the height screws pass through.  They can get wonky and make it sit on an angle.  Not a dramatic thing, and can be very subtle there on the actual pickup but looks all crooked up top when it is in.  You'll see.  They may be nice and straight and happen to just want to sit on an angle.

rct

Oh! Okay. Thanks! 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well... It came out easier than it went in, let's leave it at that. Basically a sturdy wire propping up one side. Was a ***** to get back in, and I would classify the end result as so-so, but I'm leaving well enough alone for now. I did manage to get some foam in there and it's closer to level now, so I could lower the pickup. 

Strangely, the 9-hole Tribute didn't magically turn into a solid Standard with SD Alnico IIs. GAS for the 60s Standard, but if I'm gonna pay that much, it really should come with pickups I like. I say this, of course, having never heard the BB 61's in person, but BB Pros are Alnico Vs too and they're not for me. 

Well, that was today.  Slightly improved 2017 Tribute. 

Edited by Pinch
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Took me about an hour before I started looking up replacement pup rings "in case the old one breaks", because there's this tiny pucker, you see, I guess from the pickup pushing a little on the ring (it was too snug a fit even without the foam). The old me would've taken off the strings again, unscrewed the pickup and I guarantee I would've stripped the holes and ended up with a real problem. Possibly bought replacement rings (plural) too. Even though the pickup works fine now and the screws/spring thingies do what they're supposed to. 

This presentation bought to you by the Pinch Guitar OCD Foundation and Asparagus Rex Dino Sanctuary. Our motto is "You too can be a worrier, if you really put your mind to it!" 

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